Ernest Fredericks (American, 1877-1959) was born in McPherson, Kansas in 1877 by the name Frederick Ernest  Swedlun.  He later moved to Chicago to study art.  It was during this time he changed his name to Ernest Fredericks. He used this pseudonym because he was of Swedish origin and at the time he was living in Chicago, they were the newest immigrant group being bashed.  

Following his studies at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, Fredericks exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago and in the All-Illinois art shows.  He also belonged to the Chicago Society of Artists. Fredericks' paintings were often accompanied by either a typed biographical sketch or a reprint of a 1940 edition from the Chicago Daily News pertaining to a Fredericks exhibition. Typically, on these printed sources, Fredericks would add a handwritten title for the painting and a description of where it was painted.  

Fredericks married Cordella Florence Cayle on May 26, 1900, in Kane, Illinois. They had two children, a son and daughter. His son, Glenn Swedlun, became a landscape painter of considerable talent himself.

Fredericks found endless inspiration in the beauty of the Ozarks. In Chicago, Fredericks described the Ozarks as an “artist’s gold mine of color and composition.” In 1950, Fredericks and his wife, along with his son and daughter-in-law, moved to Eureka Springs (Carroll County). There, he resumed signing his art with his actual name, Fred Swedlun. Together with his son, Swedlun painted and taught art classes in the Ozarks until his death. in 1959.

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